Here we provide background information about the Festival itself and about its island setting. The Festival is an ideal time to visit Orkney, to see more of the islands and their wealth of history, archaeology and natural beauty. The Festival programme includes outings with expert guidance, talks with new insights, and an opportunity to meet many people, local and visiting. There are also opportunities to sample Orkney food and drink in what is overall a true Festival atmosphere.

FRONTIERS magazine
The new online magazine Frontiers
is now available. It is aimed to be
a magazine in its own right,
highlighting stories about science
and people, with a wide range of
contributors and a high
quality of design.

You can get more information about the Festival in a variety of ways, and you can also contact us direct.

Fashion the Future!

The window of a former Orkney clothing shop is back in action with costumes this week. Aislin, Nyx, Nehalennia and Calypso were specially created for the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design.

Croy’s shop in Victoria Street, Kirkwall, once provided suits and dresses for Orkney’s farming folk and townspeople. Today it is ablaze with colour and texture in the presence of four figures with complete outfits that are delighting passers-by.

Fashion the Future!is a package of events developed to show the creative potential of upcycling.

It combines repurposed textiles with recycled plastic, 3D-printed into new design accessories.

The textiles come from varied sources – from men’s ties to vintage curtains, transformed through the imagination and creativity of three artists.

Selena Kuzman and Caroline Bury are graduates of Moray School of Art, and Heidi Soos is a graduate of Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen.

They incorporated 3D-printed elements, particularly the shapes of a teardrop and a four-petalled flower. The shapes were developed for 3D printing by the Moray makerspace group, the T-Exchange.

The costumes are on display in Victoria Street (the offices today of Age Concern Orkney) throughout the Festival. Additional costumes will be modelled at various Festival events.

There will also be an opportunity at the Science Festival’s Family Day for everyone to try out upcycling for themselves and to see 3D printing in action, with the artists and the T-Exchange joining forces to show the potential of the various ideas and techniques.